Microsoft Argues Activision Doesn't Make "Must Have" Games In Defence Of Buyout

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was the news that shook both the games industry and the GAMINGbible team’s lunch breaks when it was announced back in January. For the eye-watering cost of $68.7 billion, Microsoft are set to add a whole load of beloved franchises and IPs to their ranks, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, just to name a few.

It’s set to be the biggest video game acquisition of all time - or at least, it will be if the regulators allow it. For the sake of maintaining market competition (so, making sure that Microsoft won’t be at a massive advantage if the buyout goes through), the deal has to be scrutinised by officials who’ll determine whether or not it can be permitted. Now though, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, Microsoft have seemingly tried to justify their cause in the strangest way possible. 

Speaking of Call of Duty, Modern Warfare II is set to launch on 28 October - take a look at some gameplay below.

As spotted in a report published in June, one part of Microsoft’s official response to the New Zealand Commerce Commission basically states that the company doesn’t think that Activision actually have any “must have” games, which is a very odd thing to say given the amount of money they’re attempting to spend to buy them all. The response reads: “Specifically, with respect to Activision Blizzard video games, there is nothing unique about the video games developed and published by Activision Blizzard that is a ‘must have’ for rival PC and console video game distributors that could give rise to a foreclosure concern.”

Ouch. Things get even more baffling when you consider Activision’s lineup - again, we’ve got Call of Duty on the table here. Just recently, Sony expressed their concern about potentially losing the franchise on PlayStation consoles, as the series “influences users’ console choice”, and that it’s “an essential game: a blockbuster, an AAA-type game that has no rival”. So, quite a different point of view to Microsoft’s. 

For now, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision still seems to be going ahead, but there are still more hoops to jump through before it can be finalised.